Azharuddin elected President of Hyderabad Cricket Association

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin was on Friday elected President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), life coming full circle for the man who was once indicted for match-fixing and banned for life from playing. The stylish batsman of yesteryears polled 173 votes while his opponent Prakash Chand Jain got 73 votes.

The victory marks his entry into cricket administration. The 56-year-old, who has also served as the member of parliament from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, led India to a spate of Test series wins over England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home in the 1990s.

But the former batsman fell from grace after he was implicated in the 2000 match-fixing scandal that shook the core of Indian cricket. However, the Andhra High Court had ruled that the investigation against him was not conducted properly. Azharuddin, who appeared in 99 Tests and 334 ODIs, filed his nomination for the president's post in the HCA last week.